Derryn Hinch is the latest senator caught in the citizenship chaos through US links

Victorian independent senator Derryn Hinch is the eighth federal politician caught in the constitutional chaos over potential conflicts of citizenship.

Hinch has told Melbourne’s Herald Sun that he holds a US social security number, potentially putting him in breach of the section of Section 44 of the constitution which prohibits members of federal parliament having access to the “rights and privileges” of foreign powers.

“I plan to raise the issue with the Solicitor-General and, if necessary, will refer myself to the High Court acting as the Court of Disputed Returns,” Hinch told the Herald Sun.

Hinch renounced his New Zealand citizenship but because he worked in the US and could potentially access benefits there, he may have a problem along with seven other MPs, including the deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, who need to have the legality of their election to parliament examined by the nation’s highest court.